1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for developing a lithographic plate for printing and measuring image area rates and a printing system using the same, and more particularly, to a system for obtaining a measured result for every lithographic plate for printing and performing printing using the data of image area rates obtained by the measurement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a printing system such as offset printing or the like comprises, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, a plate making room 1 and a printing factory 2. In the plate making room 1, there are provided a printing apparatus 3, a developing apparatus 4 and an image area rate measuring apparatus 5. In the printing factory, there are provided a printing press 6 and a control apparatus (a remote control desk) 7.
The printing apparatus 3 prints an image of an original picture film 8 on a lithographic plate 9, and the developing apparatus 4 develops and fixes the lithographic plate 9. The image area rate measuring apparatus 5 measures image area rates of the lithographic plate 9, and records measured data in a cassette magnetic tape (or other recording medium) 5A. The printing press 6 comprises a plate roller to which the lithographic plate 9 is mounted, an ink source roller for supplying ink to image portions of the lithographic plate 9 and an ink supply amount adjusting apparatus for adjusting an ink supply amount of each ink zone partitioned in the longitudinal direction of the ink source roller. The control apparatus 7 controls the ink supply amount adjusting apparatus of the printing press 6 according to the measured result recorded in the cassette magnetic tape 5A of the image area rate measuring apparatus 5.
That is, printing operation in the conventional printing system is as follows.
(1) The printed and developed lithographic plate 9 is temporarily kept or carried to the image area rate measuring apparatus 5 by manual operation of the operator or the like. Image area rates of the lithographic plate 9 are then measured by the image area rate measuring apparatus 5, and measured data are recorded in the cassette magnetic tape 5A.
(2) The lithographic plate 9 and the cassette magnetic tape 5A are temporarily kept or carried from the plate making room 1 to the printing factory 2 by manual operation of the operator or the like under a mutually nonseparable state. The lithographic plate 9 is then mounted in the printing press 9, and the cassette magnetic tape 5A is housed in the control apparatus 7.
(3) The control apparatus 7 controls the ink supply amount adjusting apparatus of the printing press 6 according to the recorded data of the cassette magnetic tape 5A, and printing is performed by the printing press 6.
However, in the conventional printing system described above, it is necessary to temporarily keep or carry from the plate making room 1 to the printing factory 2 by manual operation of the operator or the like the storage medium of image area rates such as the cassette magnetic tape 5A or the like in the above-described (2). It is also necessary to keep or carry under a state in which the lithographic plate 9 and the storage medium such as the cassette magnetic tape 5A or the like are not separated each other. These requirements hinder the simplification and speedup of the lithographic plate processing line in the printing system.
Moreover, in the conventional printing system described above, it is necessary to temporarily keep or carry the lithographic plate 9 from the developing apparatus 4 and the image area rate measuring apparatus 5 in the above-described (1). This requirement also hinders the simplification and speedup of the lithographic plate processing line in the printing system.